On June 8, HR executives from around Victoria gathered at HROnboard’s breakfast roundtable. Panelists Amanda Green from Richmond FC, Alec Bashinsky from Deloitte and Jayne Crow from Citywide led the discussion on the hot topics affecting HR professionals in 2017.

For all those who couldn’t make it, we’ve distilled the key topics that will shape the HR industry this year.

The Changing Structure of anEmployee Value Proposition

Having a career for life, or a career pathway, is no longer resonating with millennials. There is a growing need for employers to offer more than just a salary. The panel discussed how there should be a focus on the experiences and values that they can offer any new hire in order to attract the best candidates. As Amanda explained, offering benefits such as greater leave entitlements enabled Richmond FC to secure candidates who otherwise may not have considered applying. Companies can also decide to customise their EVP based on the attributes of the candidates they are looking to attract. Jayne gave the example of how they tailor their EVP at Citywide based on the geography of applicants, promoting the company as ‘supporting local jobs’ to those in rural communities. In short, companies who look beyond financial reward, and can offer real value to employees, empower themselves to attract the best candidates.

Making the most of Boomerang Employees

‘In today’s world, it is important to ensure the offboarding experience is as positive as the onboarding process’ – Alec Bashinsky

Given the trend away from lifelong careers with one company, the roundtable took a deep dive into how organisations can best accommodate employees who leave, only to return at a later date. A consensus exists around how important it is to have a positive offboarding experience, encouraging people to return who may have gained vast amounts of valuable experience that they can bring to the team. Adapting to returning employees has meant a culture shift for some companies, reducing the sense of animosity that often exists when someone leaves for a new company. Richmond FC have seen great advantage in ‘boomerang’ employees, with the “greatest opportunities in things like where people leave for an overseas experience, and come back with strong experiences that they bring to the company.”

The Importance of an Engaging Onboarding Process

Attracting the best people is only as useful as your company’s ability to retain them. Providing an engaging onboarding experience is crucial to retaining the best candidates, as Alec explained: ‘The whole concept of staying connected with candidates is important. From an onboarding experience, it’s important to stay connected with them throughout the process. Nobody listens to voicemail anymore, and nobody is responding to email. You need to ensure new candidates are connected to the business, even before they start. Otherwise, don’t be surprised when they don’t engage.’

Amanda reiterated Alec’s point with an example from Richmond FC. “When i started there was only 100 employees. There are now 700. People think we just kick the footy around…that’s only 5% of what we do.It’s important to keep them engaged and connected to the business so that they fully understand all the facets of the company, hence there is a reliance on technology to keep them engaged.”

Advice from the Panelists for HR Professionals Moving Forward

Finally, the panelists shared some words of wisdom for those who are looking to move the needle at their workplace and make a difference in the HR space.

Alec Bashinsky: “You need to rock the boat, disrupt and innovate. Listen to people and don’t be a process person by moving away from policies and towards guidelines. Have confidence and an in-depth knowledge of your business if you want to understand the best to way to move forward.”

Amanda Green: “Being successful in this space actually a leadership outcome and not a functional outcome. Assuming you understand the commercials and the drivers, it’s all about being bold and brave. You have to understand what the right changes are by building a business case, and then lead with conviction”

Jayne Crow: “You need to know as much knowledge of every function as their leaders. Understand the business, and then figure out how you can help them out in order to be credible to other leaders.”

If you’d like learn how HROnboard can help you with your company’s EVP, boomerang employee management and employee onboarding and engagement, book a demo.